Neighbour not happy with us and wants us to pay for car damage

This!

If you’ve chipped her car with your careless pressure washing of course it should be fixed properly. A wash won’t repair chipped paint.

Why on earth would you pressure wash a car near other cars. The debris risk is huge.

This. ^ Pressure washers are very powerful @abitmorepls and it was very unwise for your husband to wash his car next to someone else's car. That said, I find it unlikely that anything on his car would have damaged the neighbour's car, or scratched it. It's not like he was jetwashing the driveway.

As a pp said, I would not admit to anything. She can't prove he has damaged her car. You should have said 'why would my husband washing his car result in gravel and stones being on your driveway, and near your car?'

Tell her she is mistaken.

Using a pressure washer to wash a car is complete overkill, and very likely to cause damage to your own car as well as to other cars or surfaces nearby. We used to have a neighbour who had to use some kind of petrol or electrical tool for everything, as if he couldn't do the most basic task without using one of his manly toys. It just seems really reckless and immature.

I really feel for your neighbour. It’s always a bit unsettling to begin with when new people move in, simply because they’re an ‘unknown’ but then to damage her car and on top of that, your partner doesn’t take responsibility! I bet she’s feeling distraught right now, thinking she has the neighbours from hell.

I’d be bending over backwards to sort this out amicably. Do you realise how much paintwork damage can cost to repair? If your neighbour uses an accident management company the costs will be in the thousands. If I was her I’d already be on the phone to one, after your partner’s dismissive attitude. She doesn’t need ‘proof’. Civil claims are on the balance of probabilities and if the damage is on the side of the car nearest yours, she will win.

Send your partner round to apologise profusely and offer to pay all costs involved. I’d also be bringing her a large bunch of flowers.

His car insurance won't cover it, Third Oarty damage is restricted to when you cause damage to property/injury whistle actually using your car, not whilst washing it.
Personal liability cover on your home insurance may

Check the damage and if she is right, then pay to have it fixed. This is very straightforward!

because presumably (as evidenced by many posters on this thread) she didn't realise a pressure washer could/would do that much damage, because nobody had ever been stupid enough to do it so close to her car before! If you've never used a pressure washer, which many people haven't, you don't know how much stronger they are than a normal hose.

Take photos of both sides of her car - if there are chips on your side but not the other, it's obviously your DH's fault.

Ask to clean it and use T-Cut to sort it out. If that doesn't work to her satisfaction, yes, your DH needs to pay for it to be remedied.

Id have to go and look at it. My car has some right chips in it from loose bits of stone just from driving so the pressure washer could have done the same. DH always moves his car off our shared drive when he washes it with his pressure washer. You could get some quotes from mobile repair people and go from there. But you need to see the damage. I had to really look at my car to see my paint chips. So if shes gone out and just been able to spot it then it sounds like a wash won’t cut it

I’d ask the neighbour if you could inspect her car. If the chips are on the side nearest your property, i think you’ll have no choice but to remedy the damage either yourselves or via your insurer.

If she pursued a legal claim, she’d only have to show that you caused the damage on the balance of probabilities. If the damage is on one side, I think she’d win. The facts speak for themselves.

Your DH has been very foolish. Way to go to ruin the relationship with your new neighbours.

Firstly take photos of the damage to her car. Get your DH to wash the area with a sponge to see the exact damage.

I would have thought that your household insurance would cover this, so ring them and find out. She needs to get a quote for the repair.

Your DH was careless, but it was not deliberate, so the sooner and nicer you deal with this, the better for ongoing relations with the neighbour.

Invite them round for a meal to apologise.

What a thoughtless thing to do next to another car...it will definitely blast things onto the neighbouring car. A sincere apology would be necessary if just for the dirt let alone paintwork damage

It is indeed a common thing!! My ndn LOVES his, he can be seen and heard at least twice a month for 1.5hrs at a time playing with his 😔

I guess it needs looking g at. If the damage is equal both sides then it’s maybe from the roads. If it’s worse on one side it’s more likely to be from the washer.

I don’t spend my life looking out my front windows. Someone could easily wash their car on the drive nextdoor without me seeing.

i agree, if your dp has damaged her car (and it sounds like he has) he needs to pay. Do you have house insurance, maybe you could claim on that?

Good grief, does your partner not have a brain? Poor woman. Of course you should pay to get her car fixed, and for a courtesy car for her to have while the work is being done.

I have never washed my car, the number plate gets a wipe down when it won’t be picked up anymore and that’s about it 😅

I live down a dirt track, there’s absolutely no point, but it’s interesting. Does the foam and the sealer actually help?

Many people wouldn't think about it but if either of your drives are gravelled, it is more than possible that the pressure washer kicked stones into her car. Check if the damage is only on the one side near your drive, in which case your DP is likely to be responsible. You may be living next door to this lady for years, it's probably worth paying for the repair for the sake of neighbour harmony.

dpends on how close the cars were, and if you have any loose stones etc

Is she sure it’s the washer and not the general state of the roads, loads of new chipping around here from new potholes

To be honest, pressure washers can throw a lot of crap about. When we're using ours to clean the drive, we always let the neighbours know in case they want to move their cars for half an hour.

Your car would lose its wing mirrorsif you damaged my car and then made me pay to sort it out. You could always contact your insurance and pay the excess, of course.

When pressure washers became affordable. Men love a pressure washer because its using pressure to wash!!! Some real bragging rights and accessories aplenty to purchase. Can clean algae from driveways, wash bikes and many other items. No doubt YouTube is full of pressure washer advice and disasters

Has he gone and looked at the damage?
He ahould go and look and see if he thinks it looks genuine that the pressure washer caused it ie on the side next to your car. And the extent of the damage
Then if yes he caused it then ask her to get a few quotes and also get your own view of the price.
If you think it was him that damaged her car then you should of course pay for the damage.